Royal Escape
by owl13
Summary: Starfire runs away form her life as a princess and teams up with an assassin who was hired to kill her and the rest of the Teen Titans. Starrob. Complete.
1. Running away

There wasn't anything she could do. Really there wasn't. I mean, if she stayed around, she would probably be bored to death. Besides, they didn't really need her.  
Starfire, the royal Tameranian princess, carefully tied her blankets together and climbed out of her window. 'Darn the gravity!' she thought. She had visited other planets such as Earth where the gravity was so little, she could even fly. But here on Tameran she could only walk like a normal person. It was odd; this didn't affect visitors from other planets when they came to Tameran. They were able to walk, run, fly, slither, like they did on their home planets. 'It must be something in my DNA,' Star thought, quoting her favorite movie.  
She had stayed as long as she could possibly manage on her planet. Se supposed if she hadn't been a princess it would have been a lot better. She would have had to attend all of these horrible receptions toasting strange foreign dignitaries. And she could have had friends. The way it was now she wasn't allowed to play with commoners. It wasn't that her parents had anything against commoners; they just didn't think a princess should be seen playing with them. Never mind how much Starfire had tried to convince them that having friends among the commoners would help her have a better connection to the people, her parents only believed in maintaining their images.  
And then there was her sister. Starfire had read in several books how sisters commonly bickered and argued. But there was something different in her relationship with Blackfire. Whenever Blackfire had been sure Starfire wasn't looking, she had always given Starfire the worst glares. And she always seemed to be watching Starfire's every move. It wasn't Starfire's fault that she was the youngest daughter. Tameranian control passed to the youngest daughter instead of the oldest son like on other planets. Since her mother couldn't have any more children for various medical reasons, Starfire was the royal heir. Starfire had no interest in the ceremonial duties that her parents engaged in far too often. It was Blackfire who wanted control and enjoyed adding to her growing list of allies through the many balls and dinners.  
All in all, Starfire just wasn't cut out for the life of a princess.  
  
Starfire quickly finished tying the blankets together. She had left a note for her parents and one for her sister as well. 'They shouldn't worry too much. Besides this way, Blackfire can rule as she has always wanted.'  
Starfire carefully secured the rope to her bed, and descended from her bedroom to the courtyard below her. She had already placed her belongings down there including her jewels which she would have to sell for money. As a princess Starfire had never handled money, everything she wanted was simply given to her and the bill sent to her parents. After Starfire left the courtyard, heading for the stables, she missed a dark figure emerging from her closet.  
"Good bye, little sister," Blackfire laughed as she watched the retreating figure. "You have no idea how happy you have made me."  
Starfire continued on, trying to locate the stable in the dark.  
At last she reached it. Checking for guards, she was happy to find that they were sleeping heavily in an alcohol-induced stupor. She had sent them wine earlier in the day and everything seemed to be working out.  
Unfortunately, Starfire had never been that observant when it came to some things. She completely missed the dark figure that was following her as she left the stable with her beloved horse, Apple.  
As she mounted the horse, she thought she heard a faint noise behind her. Turning quickly, she was unable to see a thing. She quickly mounted the horse and rode it toward the edge of the castle grounds. She entered the forest and carefully made her way through it.  
She was still unaware of the following presence.  
When she had decided she had ridden far enough, as she had ridden for well over three hours, she quickly undid Apple's harness and released her. Apple's tracks would be too easily followed. Starfire quickly walked toward the creek. She carefully lifted two tall shoes out from behind the rocks next to the small creek. She placed the shoes on her feet and hovered. The shoes were a gift from another foreign dignitary named Gizmo. He had designed them just for her. They were specially designed to use magnets to reverse polarity and reverse the planet's gravity. Starfire smiled as she moved upward. The bottoms of her feet were still in the water, to mask her scent. That way even the special tracking birds along with the dogs would be unable to pick up her scent. She made her way down through the creek, still unaware of the figure following behind who was running to keep up with her.  
She never had been that observant.  
After another few hours, Starfire grew very tired. While she had been careful to get a lot of sleep during the day, claiming she was sick, she was still unable to cope with the sudden change of sleeping hours. Finding a small clearing she decided to sleep for the night. No one could possibly find her, she had traveled too far in too short a time. No one that is except for the figure who was still following her. They really need to teach the princesses better.  
Starfire woke up quite early in the morning. Tameranians only needed to sleep for short bursts but they did need to sleep deeply for those times. As Starfire woke up, grew accustomed to the light, and finally remembered where she was she was startled to see the dark figure rooting through her belongings. Carefully, she got up and approached the figure. As she was about to kick the figure from behind, a sharp blade was pressed against her throat and a voice behind her spoke.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, princess," the voice said.  
Star saw a hand reach around her and press a button. Instantly the dark figure, or should I say hologram, disappeared from in front of her. Starfire carefully evaluated her options. "Why would you think that a simple girl such as myself would be a princess?" Starfire gave a fake tinkling laugh.  
"When the simple girl wears a dress embroidered with diamonds," the voice said calmly.  
"Darn it! I knew I had forgotten something!" Starfire said. She pulled off her dress making a loud tearing noise in her impatience and revealed the simple shirt and breeches below. "How could I forget? I rode and walked for miles in this. How could I miss it?"  
Starfire suddenly whirled on the man holding the knife. Or should she say teen? The boy was probably about her age. "Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"What? Why should I help you? Why would I think you were different from any other air-headed princess? I'm just an assassin trying to do his job."  
"Assasin?" Starfire perked up. "Oooh. Who are you trying to kill?"  
"Well...ummm..." the boy suddenly seemed to become very uncomfortable.  
"Well?" Starfire demanded.  
The boy snapped. "If you really want to know, I'm hired to kill you!"  
Starfire said nothing for a moment. The boy expected her to burst out crying. Instead Starfire raised her head. "Some assassin you are!" she retorted.  
"What?"  
"Well you said, and I quote, 'Why would I think you were different from any other air-headed princess?' If you were a good assassin you would have known for sure. Haven't you researched about me at all? Dud you just think you would sneak up on me and stab me or something?" Starfire said calmly.  
"It's not my fault the first day I arrive to infiltrate the castle is the same day you decide to run away. I'm lucky I found you before you finished going through with this stupid plan. And, in case you've forgotten, I'm the one with the knife. I sprayed Gorish, which you well know as a Tameranian poison, on you while you were sleeping and your starbolts won't work for another few hours."  
"You wouldn't kill me." Starfire spoke again calmly.  
Something flickered in the boy's eyes. Starfire couldn't see exactly what since he did wear a mask. "I've killed before and I'm not afraid to do it again," the boy said softly.  
Starfire looked at him a moment then burst out laughing. "You're some assassin! You've never even killed before!"  
"How do you know?" The boy asked.  
"Because I can read people's emotions. I'm not entirely devoid of observance skills. I can read most people like a book."  
The boy shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Well, I'm still at an advantage."  
"No you're not," Starfire quickly moved away from the boy before he could respond. She lit up a starbolt in her hand. "You really should have tried to research some more. In case you didn't know, all royalty is immune to Gorish. It's in our blood."  
"Darn it!" The boy kicked a tree truck hard, then winced as his foot turned and a sudden pain emerged from his foot.  
"Here let me help you," Starfire said, moving quickly. She lifted his foot and bathed it in a green light. "This will help."  
The boy yanked his foot back. "Why are you helping me?" he asked, suddenly curious.  
"Well, you obviously couldn't go through with killing me. You would have simply killed me in my sleep verses risking any hidden weapons I had if you were to wait until I woke up to kill me. But you let me live so I'm assuming that you just couldn't kill me. Unless you were an even worse assassin than I imagined and completely forgot about the fact that I could have hidden weapons," Starfire's words were harsh compared to the soothing glow around Robin's foot.  
"No, I couldn't go through with killing you. I'll settle for the lesser of the two faults. Any other failings you have noticed, oh royal highness?" the boy asked dryly.  
"Well, that impoliteness. It really has to stop. If we're going to travel together I at least have to know your name and you still haven't told me."  
"Robin, and I already know you are Starfire."  
"You know that much at least," Starfire smiled.  
The then boy did a complete double take. "We're traveling together?"  
"Of course. Didn't you know?" Star said calmly. 


	2. shopping

"No." The boy, Robin's, refusal was flat.  
"Oh come on. What are you going to do? Pretend like you killed me? They'll want proof and you can't have that. Besides if we travel together, you can make sure that no one realizes who I am and that I am, in fact, still alive. Besides, my guess is you don't have any supplies or money. Like you said, you had just arrived."  
Robin stomach grumbled, agreeing completely with Starfire. Smiling triumphantly, she turned and packed her bags. "Let's go. It's a long time before we get to a trading post."  
Robin tried to stand firm, but he couldn't think of any other solutions. "What did I do to deserve this?" he asked himself softly.  
Unfortunately, Starfire had excellent hearing. "You were a terrible assassin."  
-------------------  
Back at the royal palace. Starfire's parents were very upset.  
"Our baby has run away!" Starfore's mother wimpered. "And she didn't take any of her new dresses with her. She'll dress like a commoner!"  
She began to sob even louder. Whether it was from the loss of her youngest daughter or the scandal and embarrassment that would occur if Starfire was found in commoner's clothing could not be told.  
Her father had taken it quite well. For a king that is.  
"Only half of the royal army will pursue my daughter. The other half will continue to guard me." He said and sat down. "My little babykins..." he was heard to mumble.  
Blackfire stayed in her room, claiming to be too sad to leave. As Tameranians were often highly emotional, no one suspected a thing.  
"And I didn't even have to pay that brat of an assassin," Blackfire laughed. The only emotion she was feeling was deep happiness. She toasted herself and went back to soaking in her hot tub in the bathroom connected to her room.  
--------------  
Starfire and Robin continued to travel together for another few hours. The boots Gizmo had made for Starfire had long since broken down and she too was walking on the ground. Eventually they reached a clearing where a loud clamor was heard.  
"Fruits, a dozen for a glorthog. Two dozen for a Gortink."  
"A Bustage for a glamert."  
All around there were sellers, each trying to be louder than the ones next to them. The noise was deafening. Starfire sighed. She loved to shop. Robin sighed. He hated to shop.  
Starfire easily merged with the crowd and effortlessly began bickering and bargining with the nearest stall owner. By the time Robin had reached her by shoving through the relentless throng she had almost bought a light pink dress made out of the finest silk. Robin yanked her away.  
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanding.  
"Buying the perfect dress..."Starfire sighed at the thought of herself dancing along in the dress.  
"You're a commoner now. It would take years to even pay for half of that dress! And we need food and tough clothing if we're going to travel."  
Starfire blushed. She hadn't even thought about her circumstance. She turned away from the beautiful dress and walked slowly to the stand across, that was selling clothing made out of tough leather like material. She found a pair of nice, normal pair of breeches and a tunic and was about to begin bargaining for it and leave when Robin added a hat to her pile.  
"What's that for?" Starfire asked.  
"Your hair. I'm assuming that you're going to dress as a boy since you're buying breeches and a tunic and having long hair might be a bit of a giveaway," Robin said pointedly. Starfire flushed again. She had made two embarrassing mistakes in front of this...wannabe assassin. Grabbing the clothing and the hat, she quickly walked to the stall owner and began to bargain.  
Reaching a satisfactory price, she returned to Robin, still not looking him in the eye. She didn't know what it was that made her trust him originally. For all her words, she had been incredibly frightened seeing a knife at her throat. The only knives she had previously seen were smaller and more ornamental, and only used for cutting dinner, not other Tameranians. Robin was still lounging against a stall. While he looked the same as any other person, even though he wasn't Tameranian, they were plenty of other foreigners about, he stood out. It was his odd mixture of unease and confidence. While he seemed wary of the multitude of stalls, he seemed to have confidence that he could deal with whatever problems arose. He and Starfire left the dizzy array of stalls after one last quick purchase of the necessary foods.  
They made their way toward the forest and once again, began traveling. They traveled in silence for a long time, then Starfire couldn't stand it any longer.  
"Can we talk about something?" She demanded.  
Robin looked up at her, she was two inches taller than he was, startled. He had been perfectly content just walking and thinking to himself. But if they were going to be stuck together... "What do you want to talk about?" he demanded, the words coming out sharper and harsher than he expected.  
Starfire bent her head forward. She hadn't realized how upset he must be. She thought to herself all that happened to him that day. 'First he fails at his job. The he is taunted ruthlessly by a royal princess. I kept at him. I didn't even think about his feelings. Now he's stuck with me because there is no other feasible solution. He's probably having the worst day of his life. This is all my fault.' "Umm...its OK. I think I see something over there. I'm going to find out what it is." Star hurried forward her face bent downward. 'It's all my fault.' She thought again, as she felt slight tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away impatiently and hurried to walk far in front of Robin.  
'Oh great, now I hurt her feelings. She must be having an awful day. I mean to run away form a life where you have everything must be pretty hard. She must have really hated it. She probably misses her family and all day I have done nothing but snap at her. I even woke her up with a knife at her throat. She's probably never even seen a knife. Now she has to stay with me or she'll be forced back to where she came from. I must have screwed up all her plans. It must not have been easy escaping. All that work, gone just because I wanted some money. I would have killed her for a few coins. This is all my fault.' Robin saw Starfire turn red and run ahead. He also saw her wipe at her eyes. He was startled to see her hand was moist with tears. 'This is all my fault.' He thought again. He didn't know what to do so he just hung back.  
The two teen proceeded like this until they reached a small bridge. Starfire began to walk across the bridge when she heard a rough voice. "This has tolls, this bridge does."  
A burly man walked forward. He wasn't Tameranian and Starfire couldn't place where he was from.  
"I do not believe any bridges in Tameran have tolls," Starfire said, slowly. She didn't understand what was going on.  
"This one does," The man snapped. Everyone seemed to snap at Starfire today. She sighed and reached into her purse. She had turned in several jewels for gold already and had plenty for whatever toll there was.  
"I'll be taking all your money..." The man continued. Starfire stiffened. He was a robber!  
Robin saw the man approach Starfire and begin to talk to her. He quickened his pace. He got there in time to hear the man say "I'll be taking all your money," 'A robber!' Robin thought. The man continued 'After I finish with you of course.' The man grabbed at Starfire. Her eyes widened. While she was still hopelessly naïve she understood exactly what the man meant. Before she could begin to fight the man with her starbolts, the man clapped something on her wrist. It was a metal band that prevented her from using starbolts. "You're Tameranian! The slaver will pay extra for you; after I finish!" the man laughed. Starfire stared at him unable to do anything.  
A blur, streamed across her vision, the next thing she knew, the man was lying on the bridge and Robin was pulling her quickly across.  
"We have to hurry, he probably has friends!" The two teens began to run and didn't stop for a long time. They found a small camp area far away from the path and Robin and Starfire laid down their belongings.  
Starfire began to tug at the piece of metal but it wouldn't budge.  
Robin reached across and carefully grabbed her wrist. She stiffened then relaxed as he helped her pull off the piece of metal.  
"It can only be removed by people who are not Tameranian. Since Tameranians do not have slaves, they are only used as slaves and thus the bracelet works to keep them from attacking their foreign owners," Robin explained.  
"Owww," Starfire made a hissing noise, as Robin dragged the metal from her wrist.  
"I'm sorry. It's the only way to get it off." Robin grabbed a scrap of cloth and dripped some water on it.  
He carefully, wrapped the makeshift bandage around Starfire's wrist. She smiled at him drowsily. "Thanks, Robin."  
As she suddenly drifted off to sleep, the Tameranians need to have short bursts of very deep sleep and when they need to sleep they need to sleep, Robin said softly. "You're welcome Star." She smiled again. It wasn't that bad as far as nicknames went.  
--------  
The morning was bright and clear. Sike. It was drizzling rain and small bits of fog hung over the camp area. Star sat up confused. She didn't even remember falling asleep. As she looked around the campsite she grew more and more worried. There was no sign of Robin. She looked down to see his cloak hanging from her neck.  
Then she heard the muffled oath. There were several words that she dared not repeat but she did learn some new ones. Giggling, she removed the cloak and tossed it to Robin. He seemed to be struggling with a large.  
"Glorthy!" Star squealed.  
Robin rubbed his head. He had gotten a headache and Star's squeals were only making it worse. "Where I come from it's called fish..."  
"Fish..." Star trailed.  
"Yea, there's a creek over there and I decided to see if I could catch one so we don't use up our supplies. Do you even know where we're going?"  
"Ummm..." Star tried to think of a dignified answer. "I just always thought I could become a farmer."  
"Hands?" Robin said.  
"What?" Star asked. Robin grabbed her hands, they were lily-soft. Blushing a bit he quickly dropped them. "You've never worked a day in your life."  
"Not farming, but I did work!" Star said, staunchly defending herself.  
"Doing what?" Robin asked.  
"Being a musician," Star finished brightly. "I play the retwums quite well." Star reached out for his hands. Hesitating, he let her hold them. They were rough and calloused. "What did you do to make your hands become like this?" she asked curiously. "I have never felt hands like this. At the balls people usually wear gloves."  
Robin blushed. "I worked."  
"If this is your first job as an assassin, what did you do beforehand?" Star asked.  
"I worked for a man named Slade," Robin answered.  
"And what did you do for this Slade?" Star persisted.  
"I stole."  
---------flashback-------------  
The very first time Robin had stolen it was for bread. He had nothing to eat for days and didn't care about his morals anymore. His family had been in the circus and killed in a freak accident. He would not perform without them due to respect and when he decided to continue, the circus had packed up and left. He was stuck on the streets homeless and hungry. Until Slade came along.  
"You won't admit it Robin, but at some level you felt a thrill,"  
The cold voice still haunted Robin. He had only taken a loaf of bread. Proof to this stranger that he could do anything and everything as well as the older boys.  
"You're going to keep stealing for me, and you're going to keep feeling that thrill."  
The cold voice continued. Robin stayed with Slade for a long time. It wasn't that he felt a thrill. His elevated levels were form the disgust he felt each time he stole. He could do nothing though. The pain from hunger was still to close. Still to fresh. He had jumped at the assignment to become an assassin. That could take him away from his entire past. He didn't know who had employed Slade. He didn't know and didn't care. He only wanted to get away.  
-------end flashback-----------  
"I am, sorry for you," Star said, when he finished.  
"Why? I chose the life." Robin said sharply.  
By this time, Star had realized that the words were used to cover up for himself. He spoke that way to protect himself. "You did not chose," she continued softly. "You were forced. And when it came time for you to chose, really chose, you did the right thing. I thank you for that." Star leaned over and gave him an awkward hug. Robin sat very still, unsure what to do. He gave her a small pat. Star got up carefully and after grabbing a few bags began to walk back to the path.  
"I know where we can go," Robin said, having a sudden flash of insight and turning to follow Star. "I met these other kids before. They might be able to help." 


	3. Meet the Teen Titans

Carefully, Star and Robin trekked across the forest. While they did not actually go on the path for fear that someone would see them since they were still too close to the palace grounds, the grounds were quite extensive, they were never more than 20 ft. away from the path, stealthily hiding in the shadows. After a while, they came to a fork in the road.  
Star turned to Robin. "I have never seen this on any map. I am sorry but I do not know where to go."  
Robin looked at the paths curiously for a moment. Suddenly, he smiled brightly and grabbed Star. Pulling her behind him, he went right through the middle of the fork. Star grimaced as the branches whipped at her face. She did not understand what Robin was doing, but he seemed so confident. Suddenly, they emerged in a clearing. It was like no camp area Star had ever seen. It was perfectly circular with the trees all equally spaced. Robin carefully turned to one tree in particular. He pushed it aside to reveal a small...  
"Tunnel!" Star squealed. Robin had known what he was doing.  
"This is very narrow, so we have to go single file. Stay right behind me. I don't want you getting lost."  
Robin led her into the tunnel and carefully made his way through it. He looked back at Star. For all of her height, Star seemed to have no trouble in the small, confined area moving confidently and gracefully.  
'What am I thinking?' Robin thought shaking his head. 'I need to concentrate.'  
He continued through the tunnel until they finally emerged in a large, brightly lit cavern. Three other people were already there.  
"Cyborg, BB, Raven," Robin called to them.  
"You're back," the girl, Raven said. "Welcome." The words were kind by her voice seemed to lack any emotion at all.  
"And I brought someone," Robin continued, not unnerved at all. He gave Star a slight push forward and she stepped into the light.  
"I am pleased to met you, new friends." Star said. Even in breeches she was able to execute a curtsy.  
"Nice to met you too!" the smaller boy, BB exclaimed. "Finally, someone else I can play video games with!"  
"Someone else you can lose to, you mean," the larger boy, Cyborg laughed.  
"Robin, what are these video games, they speak of?" Star whispered. Unfortunately for her the cavern amplified everything that was said, and everyone heard her question.  
"Dude! You don't know what video games are? They're like the best thing ever! How could you go through life without playing them? How did you survive?"  
Star was pretty confused. Suddenly, she felt drowsy again. "Robin, I think I want to sleep..." her voice trailed off as she sagged to the ground. Robin quickly caught her. He stared at her face. While Tameranians did need to sleep, it usually wasn't this often. He looked at her and was startled to notice the great fatigue that lined her face.  
'She did just run away from home two days ago. How could he be so inconsiderate? I should have noticed her weariness.' Robin remembered how she had just barely kept up with him. 'And Tameranians are practically 5x as strong as humans. She must have been deathly tired.' He continued to silently scold himself.  
Suddenly Star floated out of his arms. She was encased in a soft black cloud. Robin stiffened and was about to go after her when Raven spoke again.  
"Relax, we have a room where she can stay. I'm taking her there now. She also has some small cuts I can heal."  
Raven walked with the floating Star trailing after her. Reaching a small opening off of the great chamber she walked through it into a hallway. Turning at the second door, she opened the door and after depositing Star on the bed, shut the door after them.  
Robin spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games with Cyborg, BB, and Raven once she returned. They caught up on what had happened since they had last met.  
-------flashback--------  
Robin was spending time in the cavern. He had found it like it was structurally. He had added various piece of furniture in the two months he had spent there. He was waiting until he had stockpiled and researched enough to go through with his assassination job. He was relaxing, playing against himself in the video games when he saw three wet and soggy figures emerge from the tunnel. He grabbed his weapon and prepared to face off. The three figures walked over to the fire, then collapsed in front of it. Robin had stayed up the entire night watching them.  
In the morning they rose. They would come to be known as Cyborg, BB, and Raven, but hadn't been formally introduced yet.  
"Dude! Where did the monster go?" BB asked drowsily.  
After Robin perceived them to be no threat to him, he carefully worked out their story. It seemed that they had simply run into each other after having the bad luck to meet no the path and run into a monster. They had found the clearing, and tried to back away as far from the monster as they could. They just kept backing up until they found the tunnel. They hadn't heard the monster coming after them, but they continued anyway, running for their lives. Robin had first seen them as they had come into the cavern, worn out from their exhausting run.  
Seeing that they were no older than himself, Robin had offered to let them stay in the cavern with him. They quickly agreed. While each person's history was kept secret, they bonded with the time spent together. After several more months in the cave, Robin had learned enough about the palace and had gotten enough food and resources to go there. He had left them, only telling the others that he had a job to do.  
--------end flashback-------  
When Robin finished telling the others about his failed job and his new job, as Star's traveling companion. They stood back in awe.  
"Dude! A princess! Maybe she can help me meet like, alien celebrities!" BB was so excited at the thought of being one step away from becoming famous.  
"Not anymore she isn't" Raven said. "And it's probably a good thing that she decided to run away when she did considering Robin was on his way to her. Any ideas who hired you?"  
"None, Slade didn't say a word. He only gave me my instructions."  
"Well she's safe now. No one can get to her here." Cyborg said confidently. "Another game of racing?"  
"You're on," Robin laughed. It was nice to be relaxing without anything on his mind. --------slade's place------  
"He failed me. This will not be tolerated." Slade muttered threateningly. He was reviewing the tapes. He had a attached a camera to Robin's clothes but it seemed to have fallen off after Robin's escapade in the market place. That didn't matter. Slade had learned enough to know that Robin had left him, and left his control.  
"You mean Starfire isn't dead?" A cold voice asked Slade over a transmitter.  
"No." He replied angrily.  
"That's a shame. I had just assumed that she wouldn't even last one night. If she is still alive I can never have full control over the royal throne. She doesn't realize it but control isn't just passed by naming someone. She had the sacred mark imprinted on her at birth. Until she dies, no one else can rule unless they too have the mark. Unfortunately, I seem to have been born without it. The youngest daughter thing was only because before me, all royal girls had the mark. I was the mutant; the freak." Blackfire spat put the words with disgust. Turning back to Slade on the video transmitter, she continued. "The boy is weak. Find his breaking point and you will have control over him once more. Then you will have power over him again and I can kill the only thing that is in my way to my ascent of the royal throne."  
"Your parents?" Slade asked quietly.  
"Already taken care of. I have hired another assassin for them but I have decided to keep them alive until I can safely kill Star. I can't have civil war going on because the royal heir is missing and I cannot claim the throne. I need her dead. Find out the boy's weakness."  
"I think I might already have," Slade said, laughing softly as he reviewed the tapes. He pressed play: "You wouldn't kill me," Star said calmly.  
Blackfire realized the full extent of the words. Smiling, she turned back to Slade.  
"Well done," She said. "Now get me my throne."  
The transmitter went dead, leaving only Slade surrounded by his video screens. 


	4. a new home

(to a reviewer whose name I forget...Robin couldn't kill Star because he just couldn't bring himself to do it. I mean he's only a teen and he just couldn't handle killing someone in cold blood. The fact that she was his age and beautiful by Tameranian standards probably had something to do with it too. Thanks for reviewing.)  
Star woke up. The room she was in was rather plain. Just a wooden floor and the basic wooden dresser. The walls were white and there was only one small lamp in the corner. Star felt very weak.  
She left the room, heading for the brightly-lit cavern. But even the light that flooded the cavern didn't seem to be enough. She spotted a stairwell in the corner of the cavern and walked up its wide, spiraling steps. She emerged on a concrete platform of sorts. It was taller than the surrounding trees but it still seemed shelters. In Star's peripheral vision there was always a glimmer of light, regardless of where she moved. She walked to the very edge of the platform; the glimmer filled her vision. Stepping back just one step restored her vision to normal. Star was contemplating this odd light when a voice spoke from behind her.  
"It's a hologram. If anyone looks over here, all they see are trees. They have to actually know we are here to be able to land on the platform."  
Star looked over at the speaker. It was Raven, the girl from last night.  
"I hope I didn't disrupt you from your meditations." Star said quickly, noticing the position the other girl was in. "I saw your shakra, in between your eyes last night."  
"You know about shakra?" the other girl asked, giving Star her full attention. It was clear that previous to this, the other girl simply had not cared about Star at all.  
"Oh yes, my sister was very interested in meditation and shakra for several years. And all royal children are educated in such manners as other religions and cultures." Star did not feel inhibited by the fact that she didn't know the girl at all. Something about the girl, and the fact that Robin obviously trusted her, made Star act normally. Normally for a royal princess who has never been outside the palace grounds except to shopping bazaars that is.  
"I see." Raven said no more and proceeded to the stairs. Just before she left, she told star one last thing. "It's healthy not to deny your emotions. Trust me on this one."  
Star was puzzling over Raven's words when another voice startled her. Hands were placed over her eyes and a teasing voice asked Star, "Guess who?"  
Unfortunately, star had quite good reflexes from the training that all Royal princesses must go through to protect themselves. Also, unfortunately, the voice was not that of Robins and thus, unrecognizable to Star as she had only briefly heard it. With her bad luck, Star quickly threw the intruder over her back sending him straight towards the edge of the roof.  
The person, who Star now recognized as BB, seemed to fall through the hologram and over the side of the roof. Never pausing, Star quickly dove after him.  
She was startled to notice two things. First, there was no longer a boy, but a large crane who flew back onto the roof. Second, she could fly.  
Quickly pulling out of her dive, Star spotted what she now recognized as the hologram and went straight through it. She found BB surrounded by the other Titans on the roof.  
"I warned you not to sneak up on people. You should listen to me." Raven told the green boy.  
"You think everyone should listen to you," the boy accused.  
"That's because they should," Raven retorted calmly.  
"Aww man! That must have been awesome. I only got here in time to see you land. I would have given a million bucks to see you fall," Cyborg joked. Taking a second look, he actually appeared to be serious.  
"I do not understand! I threw you over the roof, how did you get back here? And where did the bird go? And how could I fly on Tameran? And what are bucks?" Star's voice rose as she became more and more panicked about the situation.  
Robin laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "BB has a special talent." He nodded to BB who quickly morphed into the crane. He continued with his display and morphed into a few other animals including a kitten. Star could not help herself. She picked up the kitten and held it before it jumped away from her and turned back into BB.  
"BB stands for Beast Boy," Raven said.  
"But his animals aren't as cool as my electronics!" Cyborg bragged.  
"Oh, I see. You all have special talents. I already know that Raven has powers, they formed a bubble around her when she meditated. But what about..."  
"You could fly because all Tameranians can fly," Robin said, anticipating her question.  
"But I could not..."  
"...before," Robin finished her sentence. "I had Cyborg go through your shoes and he found something most intriguing."  
Cyborg stepped forward. He placed a chip into Star's hands. "This chip controlled the gravity that you felt. Your parents probably didn't want you to use your powers so the boots that you had had these chips on them to help control your flying. Robin told me about Gizmo's invention," Cyborg couldn't help but snort at name of the other inventor. "The invention only attached to your shoes on top of the chips which cause them to counter out each other. That enabled you to fly again. Since you didn't know about the chip, once Gizmo's invention was removed, you were returned to the full gravity of the chips. Once I removed the chips, you were restored to your natural, flying, self."  
Star grew indignant, "How dare my parents act in such a way! They only did that because they wanted me to always be wherever they wanted and to do whatever they wanted. How could they compromise my powers like that?" she railed against her parents.  
"They probably did that so you'd be safe," Robin said, "I mean, it would be hard to defend you if you were flying and you got attacked."  
Star calmed down again, as Robin had intended. "I know, but it's amazing!" she began to gush. "The wind feels great against my face! I'm so free." She twirled to emphasize her point.  
Robin stared at her. With the chips finally gone, Star became even more gracefully, light twirling on her toes. 'She's amazing,' Robin thought, then quickly shook his head. 'Why do I keep thinking about this. I need to concentrate.'  
Already Star's quick mind had moved on. While her understanding of many words gave her the appearance of being stupid, she was quite smart in fact. Robin had already learned about her math skills by seeing her tally up her shopping cost in her head, no meager feat. He had also seen that once something was explained, Star never forgot it, even though the grammatically use of a word would be occasionally incorrect. "So what is a buck?"  
Robin snapped out of his day dream. "It's a form of money." He said automatically.  
"What country's currency is it from? I have never heard of it," Star asked again.  
"Oh, it's just another nickname for a dollar which is Earth money."  
"I see." Robin could see Star mentally adding the word to her rapidly increasing vocabulary. He had learned that she spoke over 15 languages, many of which had nothing in common at all.  
"So, wanna race? That was what I was going to ask before you turned all karate-king on me," BB said, unable to remain quite for very long.  
Star quickly agreed and everyone went inside except Robin. He remained on the roof simply reflecting on his life. He used to think everything was so easy. Well, not easy, definitely not easy, but compared to now...he needed time to get everything straightened out.  
------------  
"I have here a map of their hideout. So you think you can handle them?" Slade's cold voice echoed off of the walls of the empty factory.  
"Yea, sure," Gizmo, just grabbed the folder with each of the teen's information in it. He and two other teens were there, meeting Slade for the first time.  
"Good. Failure is not acceptable,"  
It was not a meeting he or the other two would forget for a long time.  
Once they were outside, away from the emptiness that flooded the building, Gizmo turned to the other two, a girl named Jinx and another boy named Mammoth.  
"I met this Star a few times. No problem. Besides having a good punch, she has no special talents."  
"That doesn't go for all of them," Jinx replied flipping through the folder. "I can handle that girl Raven. Whatever her powers, they are no match for bad luck."  
"I'll take BB and Robin. What ever shapes, BB can turn into are no match for my strength. I'll just skip the theatrics and crush Robin," Mammoth quickly helped to establish their battle plan after glancing at the folder that Jinx held out to him.  
"I'll take care of Star, like I said. And that cyborg," Gizmo laughed at his own little joke. "I've met him before, his technology is nothing compared to mine."  
"We don't have any time to waste," Jinx told them, grabbing her own backpack that was given to her by Slade. It contained everything they would need.  
She led them into the woods and they began their trek to their oblivious targets.  
-------------  
Star had been beaten thoroughly. After 27 games of racing, she had beaten BB only once. When he had closed his eyes and tied one hand behind his back. Even then it was close.  
"We should play more often," BB said, smiling.  
"Yea, he likes to win occasionally," Cyborg laughed.  
"I beat you 5 times last night!"  
"Did not!"  
"Did too!"  
"Well, you forestalled fights for over a half-hour. That's a record," Raven said dryly from the corner where she had been meditating. Raven floated back to her room before the boys could begin to throw things.  
Star glanced around. No sign of Robin. She decided to look for him on the roof. She climbed up the stairs and went out into the open. Robin was sitting at the edge of the roof, his feet dangling off of the edge, poking through the hologram.  
"Some one will begin to wonder if they see feet without any body hanging from a tree," Star gave a little laugh imagining what she had just described.  
Robin gave a small jump. Turning he smiled, "Star."  
"I hope I am not distur...."  
"Of course not. I was just thinking," Robin answered. After only three days he could already tell what she was going to say. Some of the time at least.  
"About what?"  
"Oh, just the past couple of days. It's crazy how my entire life has changed just because of three days."  
"I am a burden?" Star asked softly.  
"Not at all. It's good to mix it up a little," Robin smiled. Standing up he turned to face her. "Any reason you came up?"  
"Just to see how you were. I noticed you were missing from downstairs and I just wondered what you were doing,"  
They stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Raven's words echoded in Star's mind. 'It's not healthy to deny your emotions.' 'What emotions?' Star thought to herself.  
Robin shifted his weight, unsure of what to do. Then he straightened up. "Wanna slide?" he asked slyly.  
"What is this sli..." Star's question was cut off as he grabbed her hand. He hopped onto the stair banister and pulling her after, slid down the many spirals. When the end came, he sailed off, sliding across the floor, still pulling Star after him.  
They both fell down, laughing. This time it was Star who pulled him up and ran up the stairs.  
'This is so much fun! Today has been perfect! Well, not with the whole BB thing, but besides that!" Star thought.  
Robin was a little less concerned about his friends. 'Today has been perfect,' He thought and began a dizzying descent with Star in the lead.  
Unfortunately, nothing is really perfect. 


	5. Titans vs

------------  
"Are we there yet?" Gizmo whined.  
"Those years in the palace have made you soft," Mammoth said, snorting derisively. "I had to work for a living."  
"I did a lot! Who else could have told Slade of troop movements. And who else could have invented the devices I did? It was hard work."  
"To bad you didn't develop a teleporter," Jinx muttered. "This walk is wrecking havoc on my beauty routine."  
"Trust me," Gizmo laughed. "It would take a lot more than a 'beauty routine' to make you look even passably pretty."  
He was cut short as Jinx jumped up and kicked him. He flew backward landing with a thump. His backpack split open along the seams and inventions came tumbling out.  
"How did you fit all of this stuff in such a small bag?" Jinx asked later.  
"It fit perfectly, and it would have stayed that way if someone hadn't attacked me."  
"What is this?" Mammoth lifted pairs of small boots out of the mud, where they were currently stuck.  
"Oh just shoes, that enable you to fly. I changed the design that I gave to Star and now they are full boots, not just added to the shoes. Also, they are solar powered so they last longer," Gizmo said calmly. The two others looked at him menacingly. "What?" he asked confused.  
"You mean we could have flown this entire time and you made us walk?" Jinx asked incredulously.  
"Well the design isn't perfect yet and...."  
Mammoth on the other hand, simply snapped the boots onto his own huge feet. They melded until they were a perfect fit. Shrugging Jinx followed suit. Gizmo was still hesitant, but he was tired of walking too. He slipped on the shoes and grabbed his now full bag. Using a special glue he invented, he glued the backpack shut. He could just always rip it open later anyway.  
---------slade's lair----------  
"The other assassins are on their way," he spoke calmly to Blackfire.  
"Good. They had better work for what I'm paying..."  
"They better work for what I'll do to them if they fail." Both villains laughed.  
"These past few days have been great! My parents are so upset, it's like I'm already in charge. I already made some key adjustments in the royal guard, when my sister is killed. Now taking control will be a snap."  
"I hope you don't forget our agreement," Slade said softly.  
"Of course not. I only care about my sister. I'll give you your gold."  
"And the boy?" Slade hissed.  
"Why should I care what you do to him?" Blackfire snorted. "I'm really a simple girl. Just a throne and I'm happy."  
---------back at the Teen Titan's------  
"This is great!" Star squealed, sliding down again. Robin smiled, seeing her so carefree. They slid down again only to stop early with a rather loud thud.  
"Owww," BB groaned. "Dude! What's the deal?"  
Star burst out laughing. "I'm not laughing at you, but it's so funny..."  
BB and Robin joined her until they were just a bunch of teens laughing at their own stupidity. They were joined by Cyborg who had seen everything.  
"BB you should have seen your face!" he laughed. "Wait, that's how you normally look."  
BB launched himself at Cyborg and once again they began to fight. Raven floated out of her room.  
"Why am I not surprised?" She asked no one in particular looking at BB and Cyborg fighting.  
Star and Robin were still sitting on the floor. Eventually, they stopped laughing. Star turned to Robin, who was wiping tears from his eyes. "Robin?"  
"Yea?"  
"I just want to thank you," Star gave him a small kiss on the check and turned bright red.  
'What just happened?' Robin thought stunned. 'Did she...'  
"Star, I am glad to help you," he told her quickly, who was staring at him as if she could read his mind.  
'Did I...' She thought to herself.  
"Star?" Robin asked.  
"Yes?" She snapped out of her own thoughts. They were right next to each other. Just before Robin could say anything, there was an interruption.  
"So, these are the mighty Teen Titans?" A small, annoying voice spoke from the entrance.  
"Who are you?" Robin snapped. He had had the perfect opportunity. He was so close and now...  
Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth stepped forward. Star flew to Gizmo.  
"Gizmo! What are you doing here?" She asked naively.  
Gizmo whipped out a small perfume bottle and quickly sprayed Star.  
"There I sprayed the Gorish on her. Now we can simply fight and defeat the others and take her back, powerless to Slade."  
Star understood immediately. Like Robin had previously, she was quite smart. She quickly pretended to struggling lighting u a starbolt.  
"What's going on?" She asked piteously, winking at Robin.  
He caught on and played along. "Star is powerless," he said turning to the others. They didn't know about the Gorish but believed him anyway. "Teen Titans Go!" he shouted.  
Cyborg immediately whipped out hi laser and tried to blast at Gizmo. "You're that scrawny, inventor," he said.  
"And you're that bad, stupid inventor," Gizmo said back. Gizmo's mechanical legs quickly helped him hop over Cyborg.  
"My systems!" Cyborg said as he shut down.  
The rest of the team wasn't having much luck either. Jinx had imprisoned Raven, whose concentration was becoming very weak. Mammoth and BB were in a wrestling match, neither one having an edge since BB was in a Mammoth shape.  
Robin quickly pressed a button on Cyborg which enabled the systems to start up again. Star snuck over to Raven and helped her out. Jinx and Gizmo were both too enthralled in the wrestling to notice. Robin grabbed Star and pulled her up the stairs with Raven and Cyborg following.  
BB saw what they were doing and quickly became a small bird. He darted up the stairs with an enraged Mammoth following.  
The two teams were on the roof. Quickly, Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth started their boots. They became suspended in mid-air, trying to catch the small bird that was BB.  
"You'd think they could smell a trap," Raven commented softly.  
"Their loss," Cyborg told her. He was looking at their shoes, then smiled. "Raven, those shoes are solar powered. That's why they didn't use them in the cavern. Can you block the sun?"  
Raven nodded and quickly made a black screen over the three intruders. They dropped, the shoes useless.  
"Tell Slade that I quit," Robin said, giving them a final kick.  
Star began to fly, her eyes and hands blazing an ominous green. "Who are you working for?" she asked threateningly.  
"Your sister," Gizmo smirked, happy he knew something she didn't.  
"My sister?" Star looked stunned.  
"And how can you fly and use starbolts. I sprayed Gorish on you!" Gizmo seemed dazed that his plan didn't work.  
For an answer, Star shot starbolts at all of them, making them lose their grip and fall into the forest below. "I guess you're not the only one who doesn't know that the royal family is immune to Gorish. Slade really needs to train his assassins better."  
She turned away and ran down the stairs.  
"Boo-yah! Wait, why is she running away?" BB asked giving a high-five to Cyborg.  
"Did you just miss the part where Gizmo told her her sister was trying to kill her?" Raven asked.  
Robin didn't wait for BB's answer. He ran down the stairs trying to find Star.  
"Star?" He called. He heard sobs coming from her room. Knocking on the door, he called out to her. "Star, It's me Robin. Can I come in?"  
"I am fine, I do not wish to see anyone now please." Stars words were jumbled together.  
Robin pressed a hidden button which opened the door. He knew all of the secrets of their new home.  
"Star, I'm so sorry," he told her. "I wish I had found out sooner."  
"Why did she do such a thing? I left so she could rule, why does she want to hurt me as well? What happened to family?" Star cried into Robin's shirt.  
Robin's shirt became increasingly damp by the minute. Tameranians experience strong emotions. When they are happy, they are very happy, and when they are sad, the are very sad. "Star don't worry. I'm protecting you. She cant hurt you."  
Star sniffed and looked up at Robin. "But why does she wish to hurt me at all?"  
------------------  
"You ... failed?" Slade asked the three teens, his voice dripping with poison.  
"It's not our fault! There was nothing we could do!" Gizmo tried to protest.  
"I told you failure was unacceptable. You will have to pay the price." Slade gestured to a robotic guard who escorted the teens out of the room.  
"What's the price?" Gizmo asked the others.  
"I have a feeling we're about to find out," Jinx replied, looking scared for the first time.  
Back in his room, Slade got Blackfire on the screen. "The assassins have failed," he told her quickly.  
"My sister is more resourceful than I thought. Our agreement still stands, Slade. You have one more chance."  
"I will go to them personally," Slade told her. "I have a matter to settle with one of them, myself."  
The Video screens lit up, showing various pictures of Robin fighting. Slade had attached cameras to Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth. He fast-forwarded to the part where Robin spoke.  
"Tell Slade I quit," Robin's voice echoed throughout the room.  
"No one quits Slade. I will make an apprentice out of you, Robin." Slade began to laugh maniacally. He pressed a button and the room became pitch-dark.  
--------------- 


	6. trouble sleeping

"I just added some more onto the security system," Cyborg told the other Titans, huddled around him. "We'll know if someone enters within a mile of the cavern."  
"What happens after they enter? Are there any traps or anything? Knowing someone is there won't do any good if we can't adequately protect ourselves," Raven spoke up from her corner.  
"Don't worry. If they don't provide a hair sample that matches up with the DNA scanners, traps will appear. It's fool proof."  
Of course, assurances like this have a nasty way of coming back to haunt you.  
The Titans, exhausted from their battle, went into their respective rooms. Unfortunately, Star was unable to sleep.  
"What is wrong with me? Why can I not sleep?" she asked herself, leaving her room softly. She light a small ball of green light and lighted her way to the stairs. Climbing them, she reflected on the day. 'I still cannot believe that my sister betrayed me. Why does she not like me? Oh well. Maybe the breeze on the roof will help put me to sleep.'  
Star climbed out onto the roof. She walked toward the edge, glancing downward. There was a small bird, trapped in a web of some sort.  
"Poor bird!" Star spoke aloud, not even realizing it. She quickly flew toward it, her silk, pink nightdress purchased when Robin wasn't looking, fluttered as she flew.  
Robin couldn't sleep either. 'What's going on?' He thought to himself. 'First I couldn't kill Star. Well, that wasn't my fault. I mean its hard to kill someone in cold blood. Especially someone your own age. And pretty.'  
He sat up with a start. "What's going on?" he demanded out loud. "Why am I thinking like this? I need fresh air."  
He climbed down the ladder of his loft bed. His room was very small so he could use all of the space that the loft provided. He opened the door and tip-toed silently down the hall. He didn't want to wake anyone.  
He climbed up the stairs. He had become so used to the cavern he knew where everything was in the dark. Except the item, he tripped over once he was on the roof. Picking it up, he saw it was Star's boots, set nicely next to each other. He couldn't see Star anywhere. 'It's odd she left her boots out in the open. Maybe she always had servants pick up after her,' Robin thought.  
He climbed back down the stairs, holding onto the boots. Making his way to Star's room, he pressed the secret button. The door didn't budge.  
'She must have figured out the button,' Robin thought, smiling proudly instead of becoming mad. It was amazing what she had learned in the few days they had known each other. He pulled a small wire out of his belt and carefully fitted it through a small slit in the door.  
The door slid open smoothly. Stepping into the room, Robin set the boots next to the empty bed. Straightening up, he walked back to the door.  
Then he turned. "What?" Robin yelled. He had just realized what the empty bed meant.  
-----------  
Star shivered. She felt so cold. She didn't understand. She was right next to the tower part of the cavern. Besides the bird was so close. She had almost reached it. "Here you go little bird........"  
Star fell, at a dizzying rate. Cold blackness closed in on her. Fortunately, she didn't land on the ground. She landed in Slade's arms instead.  
-----------  
"Titans, Star's gone!" Robin yelled.  
"I don't wanna grow up," BB muttered still asleep.  
"Did you check the roof?" Raven had not trouble snapping back into her normal self.  
"Yea. She's disap...."  
Slade had that annoying sense of timing that would always cut people off in the middle of sentences.  
"Hello Titans," Their video game TV turned itself on showing an image of Slade.  
"Are you my mother?" BB asked, still asleep.  
Everyone stared at him, them with a quick slap, Raven freed him from his slumber.  
"Dude! What's everyone doing?" BB asked, irritably.  
Ignoring him, Robin turned back to Slade. "What do you want with her?"  
"Oh I don't want her. That's what her sister wants. I just want a quick and easy way to get you back," Slade spoke calmly. Even in the middle of the night, his cold, evil demeanor held. "You see, no one quits me," he hissed.  
"Dude! Say it don't spray it! What's he talking about?" BB asked.  
"You know where I am. Come alone." Slade ended his transmission, the TV turning off automatically.  
"I don't know how he got in. My system should have detected him," Cyborg whined.  
"Did you turn it on?" Raven asked, pointing to the unplugged machine.  
"What? How did this happen? I know I plugged it in!"  
The Titans turned to BB.  
"Its humming was keeping me awake. What kind of villain attacks during the night anyway? You know I sleepwalk sometimes..." BB tried to come up with an excuse that didn't make him sound like a complete idiot. It was hard to do.  
Robin sagged down. He felt like something had been ripped out of him. Everything was so bleak. "It wouldn't have worked anyway. I lived with Slade and everyone for a few years. He would definitely thought to have brought along a piece of my hair or some of my DNA to use."  
Turning back to the Titans, he spoke softly. "I'm going after her."  
"Say hi for us," Raven told him.  
Robin walked into the tunnel and disappeared from their vision.  
"OK. I put the tracking device on him. We need to wait a few more minutes though so he arrives before us. We can't risk both him and Star getting into trouble because Slade sees us too soon." Cyborg whispered to the others.  
Nodding their heads, Raven, BB, and Cyborg sat down and waited the longest 5 minutes of their lives.  
The minute the timer went off, BB jumped up. Cyborg led the way, following the small beeping of his tracking device.  
-----------slades lair-------  
Star's eyes were blurry. She couldn't see clearly, and everything was doubled. She had to keep blinking her eyes for a long time before they adjusted.  
She was in a small room. All of the walls were clear, including the door. She walked over to the door and tried to turn the handle. Instead, she felt electricity coursing through her. Quickly dropping the handle, she looked around for another way out.  
She tried to fire a starbolt through the walls, but it seemed to get sucked into the walls instead. The walls flared green for a moment, then turned back to their natural color.  
"I would try to escape," A voice spoke from the side of the box. Star turned, but she couldn't see anyone.  
'I'm going crazy. This is just a dream. I'll wake up in a second,' Star tried to reassure herself. She grabbed part of her arm, and pinched. Everything remained the same but now she had an angry red mark and burning sensation in her arm.  
"No, this isn't a dream," A man seemed to emerge out of thin air. In truth, he had a special cloaking device allowing him to turn all black, part of the reason the room was adjusted to be so dark. Since Star still hadn't fully regained her sight, she had been unable to see him. He couldn't resist scaring the little alien even more. "This is a nightmare."  
Star tensed up. The man was obviously crazy. She had to keep him talking while she looked for a way out. "Who are you?" she asked.  
"I'm Slade." The man disappeared again, leaving Star to her own thoughts.  
-----------------  
Robin seemed to never touch the ground. He was running fast, faster than anyone had even seen him run. Turning and weaving, he ran through the forest, like he knew it like the back of his hand. At last he found an old crumbling warehouse. Entering the warehouse through the roof, he broke through a window and descended into the room.  
There wasn't any point to being quiet. Slade probably had cameras surrounding his factory for miles.  
"Slade?" Robin yelled. "Where is she?"  
"Right here," The lights turned on revealing Star in her box-room. Next to her stood Slade.  
"What do you want from me?" Robin asked. "You had me for years, you could have asked for anything during that time."  
"The problem is, you left me. No one leave Slade. Especially not you. I raised you. I took care of you..."  
"You turned me into a criminal."  
"Is that so bad? It pays well."  
Robin didn't answer, just kept staring at Slade. "Where does she come in? What does she have to do with this?"  
"She is your weakness. You failed me the second you let her live. And failure is not tolerated. She is my weakness too. She is living proof that my assassins, and thus me, can fail. I'm just happy that her sister will be here soon to finish her off before anyone else can find out about her."  
"You monster..." Robin spoke softly.  
"Hardly. I prefer to think of myself as an entrepreneur."  
"What does she have to do with me then? If you're going to kill her off, what can I do to save her?"  
"I'm glad you asked. See you seem to think you can survive, no, do better, without my guidance. So I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself. Hand to hand combat. Right here, right now. You win, you take the girl and disappear. I win, you come back and the girl goes to her sister."  
"You're on." With the words barely out of his mouth Robin lunged. He was smaller and weighed less, but he could recover faster and had better reflexes.  
They fought for a while. Even though they were both sweating, Robin still seemed to have energy. "It seems you've grown soft," he taunted Slade.  
"It seems you over estimate your skill." Slade replied, attacking with a fresh burst of energy.  
They kept on fighting, until Robin made a mistake. He slipped on the puddles of water and sweat that were gathering. Falling down, he looked up to see Slade's smirking face. He tried to flip up, but Slade quickly pinned him.  
"I...lose," Robin said in disbelief.  
"You failed yourself. And you failed her. Just like you always do."  
Robin screamed in frustration, trying to get a grip on Slade. His own body rebelled, leaving him gasping on the floor.  
"Now, I'd like you to call me master," Slade said, laughing at Robin's discomfort.  
Star had seen the entire thing from her clear box. She could hear every word they spoke, every gasp for breath they made. She saw Robin fall. And she heard Slade's last sentence. "You are nobody's master!" she hissed.  
Her eyes and hands glowed bright green. Then, green lines seemed to filled her body into a brightly glowing orb. Her entire body was flooded with light. She walked forward, the clear material shattered when it touched her. She kept on walking. Slade and Robin looked up at the bright light. Slade got off Robin and backed away. "How could this happen? I sprayed Gorish on you,"  
"For the last time," Star spoke slowly enunciating each word, "The....royal...family...is...immune...to...Gorish." With he last word complete, Star focuses her energy on Slade. He was blasted away, along with several support columns and an entire wall.  
The ceiling began to crumble. Seeing Star fall to the ground, Robin found a hidden reserve of strength. Grabbing the girl, he was surprised at how light she was. He eyes were closed and she had turned deathly pale.  
"Starfire," he whispered. He quickly, carrying her, shot out a rope and flew back onto the roof. There, he was stunned to see his friends. His energy gone, he collapsed.  
"Let's go." Raven grabbed both Star and Robin, wrapping them in her black energy. She and the other titans carefully flew away. Cyborg hung off of BB in his crane shape. 


	7. Happy ending

Robin woke up slowly and painfully. He groaned when he sat up.

"I healed most of your cuts. I left the smaller ones. You're going to be in for some serious pain for the next few days," Raven spoke from where she was reading on the chair next to his bed.

"I noticed," Robin said dryly. It felt like there were a million poking fingers prodding him. Well actually eight.

"Dude! You're awake!" BB shifted from octopus form and perched on the end of Robin's bed. "You had us worried. With the whole Slade battle thing, you were completely knocked out."

"Slade!" Robin jumped up from his bed. "Where's Star? There was a bright light and she fainted. What happened?"  
"Calm down. She's in the next room over," Raven spoke from the chair.

Robin jumped up and ran into the room. The pain increased, but his concern made him forget it for the moment. He left his room and went next door. The door was wide open, revealing a dark room. Everything was dim. Star was lying on the bed, a faint glow seemed to come from her.

"She's alive, right?"

"Yea. Man, can she take a punch," Cyborg said, admiringly from behind Robin.

Robin glared at him. "You're not helping."

"Fine, fine, don't get so upset, Romeo." Cyborg left, leaving Robin alone. Robin watched Star for a while. She barely moved, even to breath. The only sign that she was even alive, was the faint glow coming from her. It was a light green and seemed to emanate from her skin.

'I shouldn't have endangered her like that. I can't believe I was so stupid. I should have never let her out of my sight. How could I let Slade take advantage of me like that?' Robin kept silently beating himself up. 'When she wakes up, she'll probably blame all of this on me. And she'd be right too. How could I think that I could even protect her from Slade? I was the reason she got hurt. She'll probably leave us forever. She'll probably leave me forever. I'm just glad she doesn't know how I feel. I don't want her to stay out of pity. I want her to go out and have a normal life. Away from everything I did. If it weren't for me, she would probably be at a farm, living a normal happy life.'

Robin stared at her. He had never felt like this. He was so confused. On one hand, he wanted her to be happy, he wanted her to go back to being the sweet innocent girl she had been. The girl who had just assumed that the stranger following her on the road meant no harm and should have told her she was wearing a dress. The memory brought a smile to Robin's face. But there was the other side. The side that said, she had met up with the stranger. The side that said Robin couldn't help falling in love with her. The side that wanted her to stay with him and never leave regardless of the costs.

Robin sighed again. He couldn't let her stay. He couldn't let her be in constant danger from Slade. He had to put his feelings aside. Star was the only thing that mattered.

With this newly laid plan, Robin felt an odd mixture of confidence in his plan and an aching loneliness inside of him. "It's a god plan," he tried to convince himself out loud.

Unfortunately, good plans have a habit of hitting a bump. This bump was named Starfire and it had just woken up.

Star sat up in bed. She could have sworn she had heard Robin's voice. She tried to get up and immediately fell over. Robin was at her side instantly, helping her right herself.

"Gives a whole new meaning to the blind leading the blind," BB muttered from the doorway. He was quickly kicked by Raven, quite hard as all three of the rest of the Titans resumed watching.

"Star, you OK?" Robin asked, helping her sit back on her bed.

"I thought I heard your voice," Star told him, her happiness was conveyed in her voice but she could barely manage a smile.

"Oh. Yea." Robin blushed. 'Way to make a fool of yourself,' he thought.

'He is cute when he blushes,' Star thought. Then shook her head. 'I must go. Slade will keeping hunting Robin while I am here. I remind him of failure. I must protect Robin and leave.'

They both stared at each other, not knowing what to say. That seemed to happen to them quite often these days.

"Robin..." Star's voice trailed off.

"I must leave."

"You must go."

They both spoke at the same time. Then, they turned away, both of them now blushing profusely.

'She wants to go. I guess she really doesn't like me.' Robin thought. He kept feeling worse and worse.

'He wants me to go. Maybe he fears for himself and the bad luck that I seem to bring him.' Star thought. 'I guess he really doesn't like me.'

From the door BB groaned. "What are they doing?" he asked, a bit too loudly. Raven kicked him again, but Robin and Star had both seen and noticed they were there.

"Friends, I am awake." Star said, rather lamely. She was at a loss for words.

"What's this about you leaving?" Cyborg asked.

"It's the only way Robin can be safe," Star answered quietly.

"It's the only way Star can be safe," Robin answered at the same time. They were beginning to sound like parrots.

"I think you two need to work out some issues. I'll handle BB and Cyborg for a while," Raven got up and cracked her knuckles. Taking a look at her face, BB and Cyborg quickly made reassuring sounds to Star and Robin, then ran for their lives.

"Want to go on the roof?" Robin asked. He and Star slowly left her room and climbed up the stairs. The stairs seemed to be twice as long as normal. Finally, reaching the top, Robin and Star both sat down on the edge.

"Robin, you will not be safe as long as Slade pursues me," Star said gently.

"Pursues you? He's only after me. You need to get away while you can."

"Your concern is touching." Star gave a small smile.

Robin looked at her. He felt so sad. He tried to smile and found he couldn't. "Star...I..."

He tried to tell her how he felt. It looked so easy on the movies.

"Robin, I think I love you," Star quickly blurted out. She turned ten shades of red.

Robin felt like he was air born. "What?" he asked. Then quickly, afraid Star would change her mind, he leaned forward and kissed her.

Star was happy. She felt an entire burden lift off her shoulders. She broke apart from him, then frowned again. "I cannot stay here and risk you getting hurt."

"Star, the only reason I want you to leave is because, I'm afraid Slade will go after me and might hurt you."

"But it is you who is in danger!"

"I can protect myself. I would never forgive myself if you got hurt again."

"Robin, I knew the risks when I decided to stay with you at the very beginning. I too can protect myself."

They both smiled at each other.

"Wanna stay? Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Robin asked.

"I am sure. And are you sure that you know what you're doing?"

"Positive."

Star leaned on Robin and they watched the sun set.

"Score! Maybe I can meet alien celebrities now that she is staying for sure." BB was watching from the stairwell.

"She can't do any of that. Her sister is trying to kill her," Raven spoke from behind him. "Now I suggest you leave, or I will be forced to..."

She never finished. BB turned into a mouse and disappeared.

"Oh well. A girl can only hope." Raven said. She took one last look at Robin and Star, who were holding hands with their fingers interlocked. Shaking her head, she walked down the stairs, back into the cavern.

The End


End file.
